|
The VE Bulletin Excerpts
'No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself' Rudyard Kipling
Vol 20: No 2 July 2003
Euthanasia a 'personal decision'A report in Legal Medicine by
Heleen Dupuis of the Department of Metamedica at Leiden University
Medical School cites research data revealing that the estimated loss of
lifetime for those who choose voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands
is very low; possibly one or two weeks. The report reviews 25 years of
experience of euthanasia in the Netherlands and maintains
Summing up the four arguments against
euthanasia and their refutation makes clear that no argument against
euthanasia can be sustained convincingly. Maybe the conclusion must be
that, in the absence of convincing moral arguments against euthanasia,
the rejection of it has probably more to do with a psychological
constitution of a person, than with moral argumentation.
The report claims that the most undeniable argument affirming voluntary euthanasia is tolerance. The report asks
Why
shall we burden each other with our personal views on life, illness and
dying? Why is not it possible to accept that people have different
opinions about the real personal issues of life and death? Why not
accept a moral plurality concerning the end of life?
Based on an article in the British Medical Journal 2003, 326:416 22nd February
'Legal Medicine' available on line (charge applies) at www.elsevier.com
Previous item |
Back to Newletter Contents |
Next Item
|
